


Merry Marchmas!

by Spazzo47



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Newsroom Fanfiction Challenge 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23420233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spazzo47/pseuds/Spazzo47
Summary: For Lilac Mermaid's March 2016 Fan fiction Challenge -- InterventionsWill goes too far in trying to bring hope and joy to the world during a time of mass quarantine.  Will Mac and Jim make him see reason?
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 9
Kudos: 7





	Merry Marchmas!

When Will entered the office humming, Jim got nervous. Jim has watched Will for the last ten years. The time between Will’s engagement to Mac and the day Jim took over as the _News Night_ EP seemed like the blink of an eye, but Jim had never seen someone change as much as Will did during that time. And since then, Jim has seen that Will is a man of extremes. When a politician does something stupid, Will doesn’t get irritated like Elliot, Will gets angry. And when something goes right, Will doesn’t become happy, he becomes ecstatic. So when Gov Cuomo issued the Shelter in Place order for New York, Jim didn’t know what to expect. Will could become nearly belligerent because of the skeleton crew that they would have to work with. Or he could be overcome with the sight of a new puppy in the neighborhood. Jim never knew what to expect. Humming wasn’t so bad, but the question remained, where would it lead. 

It didn’t take long to find out. Will settled into his office and called for his assistant, Ellen. The old timers wondered if Will made that a requirement for employment, though to his credit, he never called Jenna the wrong name. Although, “Sorority Girl” did get used a few times when he couldn’t come up with her name. When Ellen got to Will’s office, Will told her that they needed to brighten up the newsroom. There’s only a few people around, so they should find ways to boost morale. Create an ambiance of hope and joy. Ellen thought about it for a second and said she has seen some articles about people putting up Christmas lights to cheer people up. Will carried on like that was the most genius thing he ever heard. He told her to get some lights for around the newsroom from Amazon and from his personal account he’d want some for home. 

Over the next several days, fewer and fewer staff worked from the newsroom. Mac declared that all executives had to work from home, herself included. She explained to Jim that she had to set an example for her subordinates because they would want to work from the office. Jim tried to tell her that as far as he knows most people like working from home, but she cut him off and said that she wants talent to work from the office so they can be around to cover news conferences and breaking news. 

“You mean you want Will out of your house.”

“No, no, that’s not it all. I love him, you know that.”

Jim could hear her patronizing tone that always meant she was trying to find a way to justify her last statement. “But?”

“No but, he’s a wonderful man and a wonderful father who would do a great job of helping Brandon with his schoolwork while he’s not in school. There’s no doubt about that in my mind.”

“But,” Jim was not going to let her off the hook. 

“You don’t have to work from the office until just before the show. I just want the talent to be around for emergency broadcasts.”

“How many anchors do you need to cover a press conference?”

“With this president? 1 to be on air, and 5 to fact check.” Mac took a breath. “He’s the face of the network, he needs to be there.”

Jim knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Mac, so he gave up and at the next meeting, he told the staff, those in person and those Skyping in, that he, Will, and some technical crew would be available at the office, but the rest should work from home. He also said anyone who chooses to come into the newsroom against the recommendation will be expected to stay in a confined area and that everyone will be required to Skype into meetings. Jim looked at Will for a reaction that wasn’t given, and then said, “this comes straight from the network president.” 

Again, Jim looked at Will who didn’t show any reaction but said, “I’m sure she has her reasons.”

As the days went by, Jim watched Will try to stay isolated in his office. He didn’t succeed, instead, he kept finding reasons to leave his office. Will kept on finding new places to put up something he called Marchmas decorations. Jim didn’t know where the nearly endless stream of décor came from, but when Jim caught Will putting a Santa hat and beard on an inflatable Easter Bunny that wasn’t in the bullpen yesterday, Jim had enough and immediately Skyped Mac. 

“He just wants to add a little hope and joy to a bad situation.”

“There’s a fucking inflatable rabbit in my newsroom!”

“You know he’s always wanted to use his platform to civilize the square... or whatever. This is a way for him to do that.”

“Why isn’t he filling your house with this shit?”

Jim watched as Mac turned around and look at her son. She then sent him a death glare. “Watch your language.”

“Is Brandon dressed as an elf? With Bunny ears?” Mac straightened up and readjusted her computer. “Oh my God. Mac! He has a problem and if you won’t deal with it, I will.”

“And what are you going to do? Skype him from your office and say ‘kill the bunny’? He doesn’t handle change well, remember when I had to move upstairs? You were texting me every 10 minutes. We all have to make sacrifices, Jim.”

“Mac, I’m going to schedule a meeting for the three of us. You’re the president, what you say goes, but I really want you to put an end to this.”

Brandon hopped over to his mother and Mac nodded her head. 

An hour later, Will joined Skype last and saw his wife and his EP. “You know you can come to my office, Jim. There is more than 6 feet in here.”

Under his breath Jim said, “is there space for another person?”

Mac looked at her husband and her protégé through her computer. “Will, you have a problem and we need to find a way to fix it.”

Will looked at the faces on his monitor confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Honey, I know that you want to keep people’s spirits up, but Marchmas is not a holiday. And our house is the only one decorated within a mile.”

“But, at a time like this we should be a beacon of hope and joy to our neighbors.”

Mac continued trying to look directly at her husband. “Honey, Brandon is hopping around saying ho, ho, ho because he doesn’t know what season to celebrate.”

“That’s cute, he could be the face of Marchmas. I know I look at him and see nothing but hope and joy.” Mac leveled a look that Jim assumed only a wife can give and Will sputtered some more. “We don’t have sports, or galas, or shows, or sit down meals in restaurants. We need a little Marchmas now.”

Jim couldn’t stand it. “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MARCHMAS CAROLS!”

Will looked a little sheepish, “It’s… hope and… joy.”

“And no one wants to hear you give a Marchmas concert from the backyard.” Mac spit back.

Jim thought he’d never seen Will look as defeated as he answered with a feeble, “Hope… Joy.”

Mac nodded sadly, “You have a platform, you can cover the good news tonight and spread that hope and joy. But for now, you need to pull back on some of the decorations.”

Will thought for a second and finally nodded his head in reluctant agreement. “But I’m not giving up the four-leaf clover toe.”

“You can keep one at home.” Jim saw that Mac noticed him on the Skype. “Jim, I’d like a couple minutes with Will please.” Jim wasn’t sure how, but Mac disconnected him. 

A few hours later, the newsroom looked a lot more bare, though a few decorations stayed up. He picked up a strand of lights to bring home with him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I started another story for this challenge a couple days ago, but it never got any legs. This morning, I was out for one of my walks around the block since we can still do that and started thinking about how I had some Christmas lights up to make my house a beacon of hope and joy... until they fell off on the day that I tweaked my ankle so I couldn't put them up. I'm not sure if they will go back up, but I wantd to spread some laughs. Merry Marchmas to all!


End file.
